GUEST LIST: Molly Mary O'Brien

"Left! Right! THROW THAT ASS BITCH!"

Last week, I shared a post from Molly’s blog about the stuff I like, and now here’s a new guest list! Check out past guest lists with Shalewa Sharpe, Joe Kwaczala, Nate Fernald, Tallie Medel & Mike Krol!

Molly has worked as a director for bands like Palberta and the video series Rock New York, which highlights bands. Molly is very involved in the music world. There are multiple podcasts she’s hosted and produced, like Get Involved, which features video interviews with acts like Bodega, and And Introducing… which discusses books about music with co-host Chris Wade and the likes of Parquet Courts, Jokermen, Branson Reese, Chapo Trap House, Eve 6 and Chris Frantz (which includes a whole miniseries just about Our Band Could Be Your Life, eventually with guest Michael Azzerad).

Ok now here’s what Molly has on repeat, as well as a gold standard.

I get a lot of compliments(?) about the variety of stuff I post on here and these picks are all over the place. It even includes the phrase “2002 Benny Benassi Satisfaction-core" which should pique your interest if you’re a weird little scumbag like me. I’m especially excited to learn about Mainline Magic Orchestra and their Boiler Room set with live onstage magic.

Josaleigh Pollett and Crowd Shy "YKWIM" (Pacing Remix)

I'm parroting talking points of my musician friend Kabir Kumar here, but there's so much room for creativity through remixes, especially in the indie rock / indie pop zone. The original version of "YKWIM" has gorgeous vocals and a killer guitar slam halfway through; the Pacing remix cranks up the textural contours of the distortion, so it has this extremely tactile feeling to me, like crashing into a ball pit at Discovery Zone as a kid. Also Pacing (aka Katie McTigue) plays mountain dulcimer on the remix, and that rules.

Sexyy Red and Sukihana "Born By The River"

I got into Sexyy Red after interviewing a St. Louis rapper, thatdudechandler, who referenced her as a local superstar. “Born By The River,” a song about making money in somewhat unorthodox ways, is my current favorite Sexyy Red song. I love the enthusiasm with which she and Sukihana yell "Left! Right! THROW THAT ASS BITCH!" I love that the lyrics depict a scenario where Sexyy Red has received funds for an abortion which she does not actually need, funds she will instead spend on expensive shoes and seafood. Sexyy Red always sounds like she's having fun in the studio, which I appreciate.

Mainline Magic Orchestra "Xumba Xumba" (Eden Burns Remix)

I was listening to a live set from Scottish electronic music producer Barry Can't Swim, and one of the first songs he played on it was this deeply groovy and slightly offbeat dance number. "What exactly is that deep voice saying over and over....choomba choomba?" I asked myself. Mainline Magic Orchestra bill themselves as a "house music live band." They are from Barcelona. They just put out an album called Harri Poter. They combine minimalism and goofiness with aplomb. And the live show looks insane—check out their Boiler Room for example, at one point they just had a soccer player onstage doing tricks and playing keepie uppie.  I cannot recommend Mainline Magic Orchestra enough. 

Gregor McMurray "What I Want"

And if I told you I found this song on TikTok, what then?? My FYP is currently filled with people staring into the camera, bopping their heads to this song and lipsyncing the words, with text on the screen saying shit like "this is so 2002 Benny Benassi Satisfaction-core"...and I mow that shit down like a hot dog on a stick. "What I Want" sounds a lot like Knife Party but I’m in the fortunate position of wanting everything to sound a little more like Knife Party.

"Right Back To It" (feat. MJ Lenderman) - Waxahatchee 

Okay, let's calm down a little bit. This is a chiller that is definitely 'outdoor music'—play it in the backyard, the park, what have you. It pairs great with ambient bird noise. The chorus vocal harmonies get me every time, as does the way Katie Crutchfield sings "it" as "eet." “Right Back To It” is so relaxing, you can hardly even tell it’s about the malaise one sometimes experiences in super long-term monogamous relationships!

THE GOLD STANDARD

"Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin

SORRY! Brett here. We have a rule:

We can get the Led out this one time, but I will be stricter with future Guest Lists. Once again, it gives me terrifying flashbacks to my mom chainsmoking Parliament Lights with her eyes closed, rocking back and forth next to the stereo.

I read about "Stairway to Heaven" way before I got to hear it, probably in Rolling Stone, maybe in one of the record guides my dad stockpiled. When I finally dug his CD copy of IV out in late middle school and pressed play, it was a rare experience of marketing doing justice to the product: the song was just as good as everyone said. It really did rock that hard. And it really was that funny to hear about the bustle in the hedgerow. Life is a mystery, like Madonna said, but not a total one; the path to enlightenment has already been carved out, if you know where to look, and if you keep your ears alert for the piper. I just blasted “Stairway” on the drive home from seeing Godzilla X Kong: A New Empire and…yep…still rips.